Immortal Iron Dwarves appeared on turn 3 of our game, had all hammers by turn 6. The player in question kept them until the end, proceeded to be unable to score more than 10 points on any turn, and came in third place.

If facing competent players, Iron Dwarves are not guaranteed to win at all.
Your example underlines the fact.
I personally don't approve of home rules to weaken them.
Better learn how to resist powerfull races rather than compensate the lack of competent tactics with "balancing" house rules.
It seems your example of play shows that good tactics are better than any tweaking of the rule - and, of course, luck does have its place (not only with the last conquest die roll, but also with the type of combos available).

This question was asked on this thread, and someone replied Yes, it does. I would like an official reply, because my guess would be No it doesn't. I take "as if [the region] were empty" to mean empty of the Keep as well.

[Edit] This is answered in the FAQ. The answer is Yes. Flames need three tokens to conquer a (non-mountain) region containing the Keep, even if connected to their volcano.

Once Spiderines have crawled out of different chasms and deployed, do they still earn a Flocking bonus (if their special power is Flocking)? Once Spiderines have crawled out of different chasms and deployed, do they still earn a Quarrelling bonus (if their special power is Quarrelling)?

We play that both answers are Yes. That doesn't seem right. The same question goes for regions connected by the Brass Pipe.

I would argue Yes for Quarrelling and No for Flocking.

[Edit] The Brass Pipe/Quarrelling question is answered in the FAQ. The answer is Yes, you can use Brass Pipes to gain a Quarrelling bonus.

The Spiderines/Flocking question is answered in the Rules. The answer is Yes, Spiderines occupying regions adjacent to different chasms do earn the Flocking bonus.

The description of the Quarrelling power in the rules is written in such a way that it seems the Spiderines can also earn the Quarreling bonus when occupying regions adjacent to different chasms.

So the remaining question is: if I deploy around the board using the Brass Pipe, can I earn the Flocking bonus? The answer would appear to be Yes, as the single region for Flocking purposes is a set of adjacent regions, and the Brass Pipe makes all regions of a given terrain type adjacent.

Does the Scepter of Avarice double the coins received from a region if the race occupying the region is in decline? Similarly, can Froggy's Ring be used to steal from bordering races if the race occupying the region with Froggy's Ring is in decline?

I am guessing the answer is No on both counts, because Popular Places only work in decline if such an aspect is specified, and the rules do not specify that the Scepter and the Ring work in decline.

[Edit] This is clear in the rules. Unless specified otherwise, "Relics cannot be used by Races that are In Decline."

The following situation came up in our last game: A Tomb race (Tomb Gnomes, in this case) obtained the Fountain of Youth, and later went into decline. Does this in-decline Tomb race continue to benefit from the Fountain? I guess the same situation could come up for Ghouls.

The "Fountain of Youth" rules don't specify whether or not it applies to "in decline" races, but it seems obvious that it wouldn't work with non-Tomb, non-Ghoul races. Since lost in-decline Tomb tokens are redistributed (as with Ghoul tokens), it leads me to think that the fountain continues to work.

*edit*
Answer found: "Popular Places' powers cannot be used by Races that are In Decline"

Can I use the Stinky Troll's Socks to conquer an occupied region as if it were empty and then use the Sword of the Killer Rabbit for the same region (let's say it's a mountain) to conquer it with a single race token?

I've been wondering if I should allow people to enter adjacent to chasms that are themselves on the edge of the board when starting a new race. I can see saying "no" since the regions you'd conquer are not themselves on the edge of the board. But I could also see the argument that the chasms extends the effective edge of the board.

For the meanwhile, we've been playing with "no." But I wondered if what everyone else has thought.

Iron DwarvesQ. Is it possible to conquer a region with nothing but Silver Hammers?A. Yes, but as you will be forced to remove them at turn's end, the region will be lost (unless you redeploy an Iron Dwarf in that region).

I agree with BStout, in that I think this ruling is wrong.

First, I also agree that one could argue FOR the requirement of having at least one Dwarf token for each conquest given his comparison of the wording in the rules for Iron Dwarves versus the Amazons

Quote:

Amazons
... At the end of each of
your Troop Redeployments (see Troop Redeployment, p. 5), remove four tokens from the map, making sure to leave at least one Amazon token in each of your Regions if possible, and only take these four tokens back in hand to redeploy on the map once you Ready your Troops (see Ready your Troops, p. 6) at the start of your next turn.

Quote:

Iron Dwarves & their Silver Hammers
... At the end of the Troop Redeployments (see Troop Redeployments, p. 7) of each of your turns, remove all the Silver Hammers from the map, making sure to leave at least one Iron Dwarf token in each Region. Take your Silver Hammers back in hand and place them off the board, in front of you, where they will wait until the start of your next Conquest phase.

User Deio pointed out that apparently in the French version of the game, the words "if possible" are present, and mistakenly left out of the English version. I would suggest that the wording was mistakenly put INTO the French version (can we confirm in other languages?)

However, I think the final agrument for this ruling being wrong can be found in the rulebook itself:

Quote:

2. Conquering Regions

Important Note:Regardless of a Race and/or Special Power benefit, a player must always have at least one Race token available to initiate a new Conquest.

...the rulebook clearly states that at least one Race token must be available to initiate a conquest. I suppose one could argue that as long as the player HAD one token in hand, they need not deploy it for EVERY conquest (only the last one I guess). But I think that it's a stretch to suggest that, and a clear semantic argument.

There seems to be enough discussion in the forum regarding the Iron Dwarves being potentially over-powered...and yet we seem to be bending the rules already in place in order to make them even more powerful.

Honestly, I was surprised to even SEE this ruling in the FAQ. The first time I played with the ID, the use of the Racial Power seemed clear. It's only after reading the FAQ that I have additional questions.

Wise - At the end of any turn your Wise tokens are In Decline (including the turn you send them in Decline), if they still occupy at least 1 region on the board, score 2 Victory coins.

My question is, Wise tokens I suppose you mean the monster tokens, and if that&#180;s correct that means at the end of my turn they go into "Decline Position" and I win 2 VC&#180;s for each region occupied by them, however if someone wants to conquer my region it counts has one token only since they are in "Decline Position" and even if i had 4 tokens there when they turn to Decline Position only one counts.

Probably I&#180;m making a big mess in my mind, if i am please tell me what i wrong and the real meaning of Wise.

Does Stonehedge's power effect just the space Stonehedge is in, or does it apply to every space occupied by the race occupying Stonehedge (that is, they'd effectively have 2 powers, theirs and Stonehedge's?)

In the particular game we played, Stonehedge had the "Thieving" power, and the question was: can the race in Stonehedge steal a coin from only races occupying a space next to Stonehedge, or from races adjacent to ANY of their spaces?

I&#180;m still a noob about some of the rules but i play with the 2 powers however the effect only plays to that region. I was thinking of making the same question, so you better hear the answer from someone wiser

What happens to elves, when attacked by a skeleton? - Do they still get to flee, and if so would the loss still count towards a +1 skeleton for the skeleton player?

I assume the skeletons are supposed to be raised from the dead units on the battlefield

/

The Elves still get their tokens back (they get them back from any attack except for the Sorcerers' Special Powers) but the Skeletons also get +1 token for every two non-empty regions they conquer. The Skeletons are getting tokens for defeating others, not for eliminating them. Don't think of it as converting 'dead' units to Skeletons, just think of it as a special ability they benefit from.

This is a question from the Original Small World game, but this is the thread for the newer Small World Underground game...so future questions about the original game should probably be asked over in that thread. Don't worry, you probably didn't even realize there was a difference!

what happens if a tomb race (in decline) is attacked by the (a) balrog or by the (b) stinky troll's socks?
is there a difference to active races?
do they loose (a) 2 tokens and can redeploy the rest?
do they loose (b) no tokens and can redeploy them?

for example, i have 4 tomb mummys (in decline) in a region that is attacked (a) by the balrog or (b) with the stinky troll's socks
can i redeploy (a) 2 or (b) 4 of them after the player&#180;s turn?

We had a dispute in the last game I played over the intent of the Troll's Stinky Socks relic. One interpretation was that it allowed you to conquer a region as if there were no race tokens, or power-created defensive tokens (i.e. shields), but that it did not counter mountains or immunity tokens (i.e. the Royal's Queen or the tomb raider's ghost). The other interpretation was that "as if the region contained no tokens" meant exactly that and it allowed the user to ignore anything represented by a token.

Which interpretation is correct?

------------------------------------------
Edit:

Okay, re-reading the rulebook, it clearly states that abilities that grant immunity also cover relics (it just doesn't say it where we were looking). That just leaves the question of whether or not Stinky Socks counteract mountains.

In the first game of Smallworld Underground my group played, Quarreling Spiderines floated to the top of the Race Menu and I eagerly snatched it up because it seemed to be an incredibly powerful combination.

As I had originally interpreted from the Spiderines and Quarreling descriptions, Spiderines may treat all regions adjacent to chasms as neighbors for conquest purposes, whereas Quarreling only cared if the regions were physically separated from each other, regardless of how they're treated during the conquering phase.

At least that's how we interpreted it until Flocking showed up... and then we got really confused. The rulebook specifically states that Spiderines next to chasms are still considered 'penned-in' as one big region so they would get the Flocking bonus.

We had to do a lot of mental math at that point and I had to watch many, many victory coins be sent back to the bin. We guessed that if they DO get the Flocking bonus (since it was officially in the rulebook), then they can't ALSO get the Quarreling bonus.

Ok fine.

But then I found the Official FAQ here and... well... the part about the Great Brass Pipe seems to throw this all for a seriously conflicting loop!

As stated in the FAQ:
Great Brass Pipe
Q. A Quarreling race conquers the Brass Pipe and using the Brass Pipe expands to 3 new separate regions in different locations, which are all of the same territory type as that under the Brass Pipe. Does the race get the Quarreling bonus +4?
A. Yes.

What the what? So Spiderines treat locales adjacent to chasms as one big region (and as per the rulebook get a Flocking bonus)... yet officially in the FAQ the Brass Pipe has a race treat the regions as seperate chunks (and receive a Quarreling bonus)? Since the Brass Pipe essentially bestows upon any race the same power that Spiderines naturally have (although limited to a specific terrain type rather than 'next to chasm') how can these two be treated differently in terms of Quarreling vs Flocking?

So, I guess what I'd appreciate is if the good folks at DoW could lay it out for us plain and simple:

1. How do you score Quarreling Spiderines which have used chasms to conquer regions all over the map?

2. How do you score Flocking Spiderines which have used chasms to conquer regions all over the map?

3. How do you score Quarreling Race XYZ which has used the Great Brass Pipe to conquer regions all over the map?

4. How do you score Flocking Race XYZ which has used the Great Brass Pipe to conquer regions all over the map?

Thanks guys We SERIOUSLY love these games and would appreciate the clarification!
(Also... can't wait for Smallworld Realms )

The logics that seem to be expressed by the FAQ are that adjacency must be reciprocal to have an effect upon the Quarreling power.
The Great Brass Pipe only works "one way" : from owner to attacked enemy.
I would apply the same logics to the Spiderines : if a region is adjacent to them, but they are not adjacent to the region, they could apply the Quarreling bonus.

The only possible exception would be if the region (adjacent to a chasm) is occupied by an enemy who owns the Great Brass Pipe : adjacency would be established both ways.

A Berserk race can attack the Gnomes? The Gnomes are invincible to every power that help to conquer a region, so I understand that the Berserk power can't use the dice. But the problem is that the Berserk rules say: "may use the Reinforcement die before
each of your conquests, rather than just the last one of your turn" so... a Berserk race can't attack Gnomes or only need to ignore the dice?

A Berserk race can attack the Gnomes? The Gnomes are invincible to every power that help to conquer a region, so I understand that the Berserk power can't use the dice. But the problem is that the Berserk rules say: "may use the Reinforcement die before
each of your conquests, rather than just the last one of your turn" so... a Berserk race can't attack Gnomes or only need to ignore the dice?

Sorry for my english

Good question. I believe that a Berserk Race wanting to attack the Gnomes would simply not roll the dice since they can't use their Special Power. Notice that it says you 'may' use the die...not 'must' use the die. It's your choice and in this case it would be better for you not to roll.